


Taking Care

by IngridAnne24



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 20:17:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9140635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IngridAnne24/pseuds/IngridAnne24
Summary: Lena is sick with a cold, so Kara devotes herself to care for Lena.





	

**Author's Note:**

> It's not an otp unless you write Person A is sick and Person B takes care of them.

Kara was thankful for many things when it came to her powers; flight, strength, tough skin. But one thing she really liked, was that she never got sick. She remembered when she blew out her powers and caught a cold. Not fun. 

But when flu season rolls around and Kara didn't have to cover herself in hand sanitizer, she was truly thankful.

Alex didn't get sick a lot, so Kara didn't have a ton of experience taking care of sick people. Once in a while Alex did get sick, but Alex didn't like people being around her when she was sick, so Kara had to push to get her to let Kara help her.

In Kara's experience, sick people liked to pretend they didn't need help, when they did. Alex was so stubborn, though, she pretended she didn't need help until she was practically falling over.

Now, Kara had known Lena Luthor for a while now. They were good friends. Kara was Lena's only friend, according to Lena. Kara knew parts of Lena's life, but not all, because Lena was a little bit secretive. Not that Kara blamed her, since her family had a questionable past (and present). But Kara wished Lena would let go a little bit more, show her real side. She was such a perfectionist, she hardly showed that to anyone.

Kara had a lunch date with Lena one day. Lena had made a reservation at a very exclusive place and Kara was looking forward to it. This was their fifth lunch date—Lena always added “lunch” onto the word date—and Kara always enjoyed herself. Lena was such a charming person, if not occasionally a little awkward (and that's coming from Kara) when Kara complimented her.

As she approached Lena's office, her assistant, Jess, popped up from her desk and stood in front of Kara.

“Kara, it's good to see you, um,” Jess glanced at the door and lowered her voice. “Maybe you can talk to her.”

“What's wrong?”

“Well, I think she's sick, but of course she won't stop working.”

“How do you know she's sick?”

Kara's question was answered by three loud sneezes inside the office.

“She came in sniffling, looked flushed, and she's gone through two boxes of tissues,” Jess sighed.

“And she won't go home?”

Jess laughed before composing herself. “She once had the stomach flu and took her laptop into the bathroom. She finally went home after I found her passed out on the floor.”

“Jeez...” 

Kara huffed before entering Lena's office. It was obvious the moment Lena lifted her head that she was sick. Her eyes were red and watery, her face was flushed, and her nose was bright red.

“Hey, Lena.”

“Kara! Hi!” Lena rose to her feet. She frowned slightly as she straightened herself up, then quickly pressed a finger to temple. She was obviously pretending she didn't do that, like she didn't have a headache. “I'm so excited for our lunch date.”

“Yeah, Lena, about that...”

Lena's smile faltered a little bit.

“Maybe you should go home?”

“Why?” Lena asked, sounding defensive.

“Lena. Come on, you're obviously sick.”

“What do you mean obviously?”

Kara stared at Lena for a moment; she may actually be more stubborn than Alex. At least Alex would admit she's sick. While Kara stared at her, Lena very, very quickly swiped her hand over the underside of her nose. Then she sniffed and made a weird face.

“Lena, I think--”

Lena sneezed loudly and turned away from Kara. She grabbed a tissue and blew her nose.

“I think you should go home,” Kara finished.

“I have a lot of work to do,” Lena said, her back still to Kara.

“I know, and you can do some from home, but it's just going to get worse if you push yourself. You need rest, and you need to actually eat something. A real meal for once.”

“Yes, on our lunch date,” Lena said hopefully, looking over her shoulder.

Kara shook her head and put her hands on her hips. “Lena, I'm taking you home.”

Lena turned around completely, her eyes looking even more watery. She looked like she wanted to protest, but she closed her eyes and licked her lips.

“Okay.”

“Yeah?” Kara was a little surprised.

“Yeah.”

Jess looked just as surprised when they came out of the office, Kara carrying Lena's briefcase. She discreetly gave Kara a thumbs up.

Kara wished she could fly Lena there, but for one thing, Lena didn't know she was Supergirl, and also the cold wind probably wouldn't be good for Lena. It's just that the traffic was ridiculous and took a half an hour for them to get to Lena's place. While they were in the car Lena nearly fell asleep twice, her head dropping onto Kara's shoulder. Kara didn't mind, but she figured Lena would be better off sleeping in her own bed, so she woke Lena up.

She also wished she could carry Lena into the building, but it might look weird. So Kara had to help Lena into her apartment as best as could as Kara, not Supergirl.

“I can make you soup,” Kara suggested as she helped Lena onto the couch.

“That sounds nice,” Lena said. She then went into a coughing fit.

While Kara made soup, Lena put on pajamas.

“I don't usually wear pajamas the time of the day, if I wear them at all. I usually fall asleep in my clothes,” Lena said as she came back into the room.

“Yeah, well, I bet you feel better in them...” Kara trailed off as she turned to look at Lena. Lena was wearing a tanktop, long baggy pants, and a fuzzy white robe. Her hair was down and she looked adorable. Kara's face felt warm, which she blamed on the steam from the soup.

“Yeah, a little.”

“Um,” Kara cleared her throat. “Go, sit, I'll bring the soup to you.”

Lena followed her orders and sat on the couch.

“I never knew you were so commanding, Kara Danvers,” Lena said hoarsely. She gave Kara a look that made her feel warm again.

“I just want to you feel better.” Kara placed the tray with the soup in front of Lena.

“You're very sweet, Kara. Really.” Lena gazed at Kara, her eyes watery, leaving Kara unable to tell if that was from the cold or she was truly touched. Lena leaned down and took a bite of soup. “Mmm, Kara, this is delicious.”

“It's just from a can.”

“You made it really well. Thank you.” Lena smiled and Kara adjusted her glasses and returned the smile.

As Lena ate, Kara watched her. Her hair kept falling—cascading was a better word—over her shoulder, and Kara felt a sudden urge to brush Lena's hair back, hold it back for her. Then Kara also noticed as Lena ate the hot soup, her nose was running. A lot. So Kara got up and got Lena some tissues.

Lena was still preoccupied with her soup, so Kara leaned over and wiped Lena's upper lip. She blinked and turned to Kara.

“Uh, sorry,” Kara said, quickly pulling her hand away. “Your nose was running.”

Then Lena laughed. She laughed until she started to cough. “I appreciate it, Kara. I can wipe my own nose, though.”

“Of course,” Kara said. She knew her face was beet red.

Lena finished the soup, which was shocking, because Lena rarely finished a meal, then leaned back into the couch. Somehow, even when she was pale, flushed, with watery eyes, and a runny nose, she was still gorgeous. And Kara found herself staring at Lena again—it was a good thing Lena's eyes were closed.

“You probably have work to do too,” Lena said, her voice sounding congested again.

“I don't,” Kara lied. 

“You're a bad liar, even when I'm not looking at you,” Lena said with a smile. She opened her eyes halfway. “You probably should go back to work.”

“No,” Kara said, surprising even herself with her sharp tone. “I committed myself to taking care of you, so that's what I'm gonna do.”

Lena stared at Kara with an unreadable expression, closed her eyes for a few seconds, then shrugged. For a brief second, though, Kara could see her smile.

At some point, Lena's coughing and congestion got worse, so Kara made her take Nyquil. Lena on Nyquil was interesting. She starting hanging on Kara, her hands gripping Kara's. Lena not on Nyquil was a little bit stiff, friendly, but obviously holding back. Lena on Nyquil held onto Kara like she was afraid she'd die if she didn't.

“Kara, you're so sweet. So, so sweet,” Lena said, her face very close to Kara's. 

“Thank you.”

“No, I mean it,” Lena said, suddenly sounding very serious. “You're a very sweet person. How'd I end up with a friend like you?”

“Well, we met because of Clark Kent...

“Clark Kent knows Superman, you know Supergirl...” Lena sighed.

“Uh-huh.”

“Supergirl's so cool. She saved me, a bunch of times. Did you know that?”

Kara nodded.

Lena draped an arm over her eyes. “I like her, a lot.”

Kara's breath hitched and she waited for Lena to say more. Lena then put her arm down, turned to Kara, her eyes shimmering and asked:

“You're adopted, right?”

“Yeah,” Kara said slowly, trying to not show her disappointment. So apparently that was something they would talk about later, but not now. Anyway, she had told Lena that she was adopted, but she was careful about the details. Her parents died in a freak accident (which is kind of true) and the Danvers took her in. That was usually about as far as she got.

“I don't remember my parents. Birth parents. I wouldn't know my father, anyway, from what I was told. He left before I was born, mother died when I was two.”

This was the first time Lena talked about this. Their conversations didn't revolve around their adoptions, for different reasons.

“My father, Lionel, wasn't a great man, I can admit that now, but he was a good father. At least to me. He was warm, and always hugged me. Lillian,” Lena sighed, “my mother. She was neither. She was always cold, like she could never accept me as her daughter. Lex was always her favorite, because she gave birth to him, I guess.”

Lena had closed her eyes, then took a long, deep breath. Kara didn't know what to say. She had always felt guilt when it came to Alex, because Alex had felt for a while that Eliza preferred Kara, which wasn't true. It was the opposite, though, since Eliza had given birth to Alex. It was also mostly in Alex's head.

However, in Lena's case, Kara felt it probably wasn't in Lena's head. Kara had met Lillian, and it seemed entirely possible.

Kara wrapped her arms around Lena, not too hard, but hard enough to let Lena know that she was there for her. Lena leaned into the hug, then tucked her head into the crook of Kara's shoulder. In probably less than a minute, Kara could hear Lena's heart-rate suddenly drop and her breathing even out.

Kara couldn't put Lena down and pull away, so she leaned back and let Lena lay on top of her, her head nestled underneath Kara's chin.

Kara didn't sleep, really, because she always had trouble sleeping during the day, but she did doze. 

They stayed like that for a while. But Kara didn't mind. She didn't really mind that Lena was sweating on her, or that she was drooling on her. She was surprised at how little she minded.

Just as the sun was starting to set, Lena started to stir. She first tightened her grip on Kara, then rolled, almost off the couch, but Kara caught her. Lena yelped.

“Where am I?” Lena asked, looking around blearily. Then she saw Kara and her face turned red.

“You're sick and I took you home, remember?”

Lena wiped at one of her eyes before sitting up. “Oh, right. Ugh, I feel very...”

Lena rubbed her forehead.

“You took some Nyquil, so that's probably still in your system.”

“You took me home...” Lena mumbled.

“Yes?”

“No, I mean, that's... Thank you.”

“You've already thanked me, Lena,” Kara laughed.

“I know,” Lena said, but Kara wasn't really sure she really remembered. “But I think it's worth restating.”

Lena ran her fingers through her hair and Kara was hit with the scent of the shampoo Lena uses.

“I must look like a mess,” Lena sighed, her head rolling back, exposing her long neck.

“You look beautiful,” Kara answered automatically.

Lena laughed. But Kara grabbed her hand and repeated it. “Really.”

And she meant it, even though Lena had snot smeared across her cheek and her eyes were just as red and watery. Yes, she did look like a mess, but it did make her any less beautiful.

“Nobody would certainly want to kiss me right now,” Lena said almost in a whisper.

“Anybody who wouldn't want to kiss you is crazy!”

Lena looked at Kara, her eyes wide. Kara could see a blush rise of Lena's neck and go to her ears, she could hear her heart pounding in her chest. Kara had meant that statement as something more broad, but she could understand how Lena might understand it. And it was true, anyone who didn't want to kiss Lena Luthor was crazy, even when she had snot smeared across her face. Kara certainly wouldn't be opposed...

“Kara...”

“Um!” Kara suddenly jumped to her feet. “My sister!”

Lena frowned at her.

“It's sister night with my sister, Alex. You met her. Um, you have my number, if you need me.”

“Right, of course.” Lena sounded disappointed.

“How about I come by in the morning? I'll determine if you're well enough to go back to work,” Kara said with a smirk.

Lena smiled at that and leaned on one arm, against the backrest of the couch. “I'll probably go to work no matter what, but I appreciate it.” Lena frowned. “Hopefully I don't get you sick.”

“You don't have to worry about that, trust me,” Kara said with a slight laugh, then caught herself. “Uh, really good immune system, and flu shot.”

“But this isn't a flu,” Lena pointed out.

“Right. Then, immune system. Right, okay, bye, Lena!”

Kara waved at Lena as she ran out the door, barely leaving Lena with any time to utter a goodbye. When she was out of earshot of Lena, she called Alex.

“Hey, Alex. Yeah, I'll be over in a little bit, but I think we need to talk about something.”


End file.
